Chocolate Dessert

I've posted this on my family blog before, but it's private so some of you folk don't have it. It is so yummy! It's a recipe from my great-grandmother. She use to bring it to all the family parties! I've tried it a couple of times and it's always been a big hit! Enjoy!

Chocolate Dessert

1 cup flour
1 cube butter melted
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
9 oz. cool whip
1 small box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cold milk

1. Mix flour, melted butter and chopped nuts. Press into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Cool completely.
2. Cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and half the cool whip. Spread evenly over cooled flour/butter/nut mixture.
3. In a medium bowl, mix well: pudding with 3 cups milk. Spread evenly over cream cheese layer.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add remaining cool whip just before serving.

Notes from the chef: I altered the recipe slightly for the party. For the pudding I used 1 large chocolate pudding and half of a large Vanilla chocolate chip pudding with 3 cups milk. I liked it better than the original way. Also, if you add the top layer several hours before serving, the chocolate seeps through the cool whip and it doesn't look as yummy. So if you're making this ahead, wait to add the top layer until just before serving.

My aunt has this quote in her kitchen (I can't remember the exact quote), "God made chocolate, and the devil threw in calories on its way down."

Kels Virgin Grasshopper Pie

Did you know that the traditional Grasshopper Pie has Creme de Menthe Liqueur (as in alcohol) in it!!! I didn't, so when my husband asked for Grasshopper Pie for his birthday I thought, "That sounds great! What could be better than chocolate and mint together?" Like those yummy Keebler Grasshopper Cookies I shouldn't be fantasizing about right now! So, I typed Grasshopper pie into the Google search engine and it took me forever to find this recipe. It is free from any al-key-hall.
In the original recipe the pie should be ready in 4 hours. In mine you need at least 24 hours! I'll discuss the reason's for that below the recipe. I also was rushing everything when I made my pie and "A watch pot never boils" right? So, here is my adaptation of Baptist Grasshopper Pie found here and be sure to read the "What I did" part to cut your Pie's set up time down.

Note:Needs to be made a day (24 hours) ahead

Virgin Grasshopper Pie
1 Oreo crust (you can make your own but why do that when you can buy it already made right?)
1 7oz jar marshmallow creme
1/8 cup milk
Creme de menthe flavoring to desired flavor
3/4 Heavy Whipping Cream
2 or more drops green food coloring to desired color
1/2 of a Large Cacao/bitter chocolate bar (ground into a very fine powder) or crumbled grasshopper cookies

1.In a saucepan combine milk and marshmallow creme and stir over medium heat until mixed and melted. Chill until mixture holds it's shape when dropped from a spoon.
2.Slowly mix in the mint extract and stir until completely combined. (Not too much, otherwise it will taste like toothpaste!)
3.Beat the whipping cream into marshmallow mixture. Add food coloring to desired color (should be a very pale green).
4.Spread into pie crust. Process the Cacao chocolate bar to a very fine powder(you don't want any chunks, they taste REALLY bitter) or Grasshopper cookies and sprinkle to cover pie. Cover and freeze 24 hours.

What I did:
This pie turned out fabulous! It was so so so so so so...anyways...yummy! I was pleasantly surprised, since I found the recipe randomly online and then altered it a lot! The only thing that was annoying was having to leave it in the freezer for so long to get it to set up properly! I was hoping to be able to eat it that night! Not the next night! I obviously followed the recipe above since it's my recipe; but, I wanted to let you all know what I would do differently next time that I think would significantly reduce the set up time!

1.Melt 16 large marshmallows and 1/4 cup milk OR 1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream (omit the milk when using the marshmallow cream)
2.Leave that mixture in the fridge until it holds it shape dropped from a spoon (I was in a hurry and took it out too early)
If you follow these two steps your pie should only need to be refrigerated for 4 hours before it's ready.

I bought my Creme de Menthe flavoring from Zurchers, if you are going to make this pie anytime soon and you know where I live, you are welcome to come use some of mine, it will probably expire before I use all of it! Otherwise, it's a candy flavoring available at most craft stores like Michael's, etc.

Kels
"A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around." -Ed Howe